[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Dragonstrike]

@Dragonstrike, here a theory situation for ya: If you would have challenge by Ash Ketchum in person, what kind of strategy you would use? And what kind of pokemon or strategy he would use?

That probably depends almost entirely on the situation and region.  Since Ash never has the same team in two regions, the strategies you'd want to use against him would change.  The only constant is Pikachu (who has so much experience from traveling the world with Ash, he's hardly what anyone would probably call a normal Pikachu.  Ash's Pikachu is probably around Plot Device strength) 

Kinda hard to theorycraft when there's very, very little to base a theory on in the first place.

Though as far as Ash's general battle strategy, pokemon choices, and training go, this is what Bulbapedia has to say:

Spoiler

As a Trainer, Ash has caught and befriended a sizable number of Pokémon over the course of the anime. His philosophy on training is that Pokémon are individuals and that a combination of trust, friendship and hard work are needed to overcome adversity. In fact, several of Ash's Pokémon were caught because they allowed him to, after he befriended them. He seems to battle best with Pokémon that are similar to Pikachu: ones that are speedy and maneuverable, yet able to perform high-powered attacks; however, he is willing to work with any Pokémon that comes into his care.

Ash's battle style is generally spontaneous and fairly unorthodox, and his Pokémon often reflect these traits. He has been shown to use unusual strategies. For instance, during the Diamond & Pearl series, he incorporated a twisting-spinning type maneuver in his Pokémon's offensive and defensive techniques, which eventually lead to him creating the original technique, Counter Shield. Also, sometimes he would use someone else's battle strategies as shown with Paul and Tierno, though when using the latter, Ash stated that his own unique strategy is the one he can truly count on, instead of simply mimicking others.

Ash is very attached to his Pokémon, and prefers to fight and train with them personally. Furthermore, he cares for their opinion, even giving them the option of whether they should evolve or not. As such, the majority of his Pokémon also share Ash's stubborn and reckless nature, persistently attempting to rise and continue the battle, even after receiving great amount of damage and being at the end of their rope. However, if it is by their own wish, or if he believes it is best for them, Ash will (if sometimes reluctantly) trade or release them, and in some cases, leave them with experienced individuals so that they could get stronger.

Though Ash normally catches five or more Pokémon per region (not including when he traveled through the Orange Archipelago and challenged the Battle Frontier in his second tour of Kanto), he rarely ever switches the Pokémon in his current party with those in storage at Professor Oak's Laboratory. He usually only did so when he participated against powerful opponents (such as Trainers in the Pokémon League Conferences, and Frontier Brains), or when attending certain events that requires a specific Pokémon (like Tauros at the Pokémon Swap Meet or Snorlax at the Sumo Conference). However, during the Best Wishes series, Ash actively cycled through the nine Pokémon he managed to catch in Unova, although these Pokémon, when not in his party, were instead kept in storage at Professor Juniper's lab in Nuvema Town. Near the end of his journey in Unova, Professor Juniper transferred all of Ash's Pokémon to Professor Oak's lab. Ash did not use this system of training in the following series.

Ash currently has ownership of 71 Pokémon, including all 30 of his Tauros. Including pre-evolutions, traded, released and given away Pokémon (and not including the additional Tauros), in total, Ash has currently officially owned a total of 86 different Pokémon species.